Earlier today it was confirmed that Nintendo's new president is Tatsumi Kimishima, a 65-year-old veteran who has previously held several senior roles within the company. While many believed that one of the interim bosses Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda would be given the nod, Kimishima does, on paper at least, represent a more sensible appointment - even if he's unlikely to strike the same chord with gamers.

While Miyamoto and Takeda have experience in game creation and development, Kimishima's background is in finance. He studied at Hitotsubashi University's Faculty of Law, and before joining Nintendo was employed by The Sanwa Bank (now UFJ Bank Ltd.) for 27 years, dealing with aspects such as corporate planning, international business development, communications and promotions. His tenure with the bank would give him valuable global experience as he found himself posted to a wide variety of locations in the US, including New York, LA and San Francisco.

His entry point into Nintendo was The Pokémon Company, which he joined in 2000 as Chief Financial Officer. He would hold this role for a year before being promoted to President of The Pokémon Company. His meteoric rise continued in 2002, when he was appointed as successor to outgoing Nintendo of America President Minoru Arakawa. He would oversee the launch of the Wii in the US - one of Nintendo's most successful hardware releases ever - and four years later would be promoted again, this time as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, making way for current Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. In 2013, he was promoted to Managing Director of Nintendo Co., Ltd., with Satoru Iwata taking his place as Chief Executive Officer of Nintendo of America.

Which brings us pretty much up to the present day. The death of Satoru Iwata has come at a very difficult time for Nintendo, which is on the cusp of a sensitive hardware transition and is about to set foot into the fiercely competitive world of smartphone gaming. Clearly Iwata's successor needed to be a safe pair of hands rather than a maverick, and Kimishima fits the bill perfectly in that regard. While Nintendo fans would have loved to have seen Miyamoto take up the challenge, he is first and foremost a creator and would perhaps not be the right man for a role which involves so much more than simply focusing on games.

That's not to say that Miyamoto - and Nintendo's other interim boss, Takeda - won't be involved with the big choices at Nintendo; both have been given "fellow" positions, which are described as such:

An individual selected from among the Representative Directors who has advanced knowledge and extensive experience, and holds the role of providing advice and guidance regarding organizational operations in a specialized area.

Clearly Kimishima's role isn't quite the same as Iwata's. With Miyamoto and Takeda acting as his "wingmen" we could see a more team-focused stance this time around, with Kimishima making use of the talents and experience of individuals within the company to make informed choices, rather than the "all-in" approach that Iwata was famous - and highly respected - for.

Still, Kimishima's prior experience will be absolutely invaluable when it comes to launching NX, possibly one of the most important hardware releases in Nintendo's long history. The company finds itself in very much the same position as it was in 2006; back then, the GameCube had underperformed in the face of competition from the PS2 and Xbox, and the Wii was seen as a last-gasp attempt to win back players - which it did, becoming the best-selling console of the subsequent hardware generation. Its successor the Wii U has, despite some amazing games, totally and utterly failed to replicate the same level of commercial success, and Nintendo once again finds itself backed into a corner with something to prove. Kimishima will be in charge of bringing the NX to market, just as he was when he successfully launched the Wii at Nintendo of America almost a decade ago.

Nintendo of America Board of Directors, Kimishima is fourth from the left

Kimishima has spent much of his working life in the west and his experience at Nintendo of America will surely have made him very aware of what it takes to succeed in what is easily the biggest market in the world. With that in mind, his appointment raises some interesting questions - will it trigger a slight shift of power away from Kyoto? It is often joked about that Nintendo's global offices have a lacklustre track record when it comes to communicating with one another, with each one seemingly operating without any thought of how it might impact its siblings. We've heard on numerous occasions that the western Nintendo offices are often stymied or overruled by Japan - could Kimishima's appointment change this? Will we see a more western-focused Nintendo moving forward, given his strong ties with Nintendo of America? Time will tell, but Kimishima will be blessed with a unique perspective on what it's like working outside of - and answering directly to - NCL, and he may even be a little sympathetic to whatever grievances NoA has moving forward.

Despite Kimishima's suitability for the role, it's hard to shake the impression that this is very much a stop-gap appointment. At 65 he's no spring chicken, and it may be that Nintendo is looking to inject some stability into the company during turbulent times before locating a younger, more dynamic successor. Still, it's unfair to see Kimishima as little more than a band-aid - in the next 12 months the company will need his experience and wisdom as it seeks to launch a new home console which - if rumours are to be believed - will unify its domestic and portable interests. Add to this the evolution of its smartphone game business - a business which could very well result in never-before-seen profits for the firm - and Kimishima's appointment makes even more sense. These are exciting times for Nintendo and it now has a sensible and experienced veteran at the helm - and one who may well have the interests of western players at heart.

Damien has over a decade of professional writing experience under his belt, as well as a repulsively hairy belly. Rumours that he turned down a role in The Hobbit to work on Nintendo Life are, to the best of our knowledge, completely and utterly unfounded.

i really don't want them to make things more western or think more about what we will like and buy.that would destroy everything.i'm not a weeb i can like american or european things just as much as japanese things but nintendo should be realy realy realy japanese.thats part of the charm of the products.

Sensible appointment that was to be expected... a company man who will keep the ship on a steady course while they look for a new captain. And I'm very happy that they haven't persuaded/forced Miyamoto to take the job!

I hope he merges NoA and NoE. Times have changed and that split simply makes no sense anymore. It leads to so much needless duplication of effort both by Nintendo and 3rd party devs.

CEO's have all sorts of legal responsibilities and many spend most of their time doing dull admin stuff, with the grand strategy decided by a team of top people. Often you see tech startup where the founder eventually takes a more product focused hands on role and leaves what is technically the top job to a boring business man.

That's probably why Miyamoto would be wasted in that role, as romantic as the notion seems from the outside.

@JamesCoote Makes no sense? Do you honestly see NoA taking the time to deal with all of the multiple territories within Europe? Handling all of the localisation for each country, distribution, marketing (which is a totally different business in this part of the world to the US), etc?

If the split didn't make any sense any more then why are Sony and Microsoft still committed to Euro offices? Combing NoA and NoE would have one outcome - Europe would get even less attention than normal!

@JamesCoote Why would they merge NoA and NoE? 3rd party devs would still have to submit games to ratings agencies in Europe, there'd still have to be translation done for the various languages, and there are different laws and regulations in both regions. Plus marketing companies, distribution companies, work with vendors... and there's likely financial reasons to consider too.

I've always believed that NoJ should aloww NoE and NoA to have alot more freedom with makin their own games, or bring out new games for Nintendo's old franchises.Hopefully, this may happen with Tatsumi Kimishima in charge, but that will remain to be seen.Atleast he's surrounding himself with the right people for advise, Hiroshi Yamuachi was never a gamer and look what he accomplished, Tatsumi Kimishima will surely be in good position to succed in what he want's to do.

As long as he doesn't let financial thinking get in the way of the creativity Nintendo is known for it should be fine. But I really hope someone with a background in game development takes over again at some point.I don't think many western Nintendo fans want them to make more westernized games though.

The big problem with Nintendo is that they keep refusing to acknowledge an unfortunate reality; that their core (i.e. Gamecube-type) games are bad for their console business. If they were a third-party working on other platforms, they would only have to worry about making a profit on their games. But they want to keep making consoles, and then have to face the problem that 3D Mario, Pikmin, Kirby, Yoshi, etc, don't sell consoles. 2D Mario, Mario Kart and Smash Bros. certainly help boost sales, but as the Wii U showed, they are not enough to turn around the console's fortunes. And lame, perfunctory sequels to Wii Sports, Wii Fit and Wii Party aren't doing much either.

The fact that Miyamoto announced Pikmin 4 at such a critical time for the company should be ringing alarm bells. Pikmin 3 was one of the early Wii U games and it did nothing for that console's fortunes. Why is Nintendo devoting resources to a game that will not help this new console? Games like Pikmin should be treated as a luxury; something to invest in only after the console's success is secured.

If Nintendo wants to keep making Gamecube games, they need to stop making consoles.If Nintendo wants to keep making consoles, they need to stop making Gamecube games.

As long as Nintendo refuses to face this reality, the NX is going to fail. At the end of the day, people buy consoles to get to the games. It doesn't matter what cool things Nintendo can do with the NX hardware if it's just going to be used for more games that customers don't want to play.

@dizzy_boy NoA gearing up Nintendo Software Technology would be interesting. Previously NST put out titles like Wave Race: Blue Storm, 1080 Avalanche, and Metroid Prime Hunters. Currently they've just been working on the Mario vs Donkey Kong titles, crossword games and Aura-Aura Climber.

NoE could make closer use of European developers like Shi'nen Multimedia and Image & Form, or staff up for their own NST analogue.

@Lilith93 While I agree with you game making wise it makes more sense from a financial approach to think a little more western.

Look at Xenoblade as that took a more western approach. It can work without ruining the gaming experience. What they need to do is take more consideration as to what the western approach should be. For one naming the Wii U was a big mistake and maybe this president would realize that and change the name for the western market. They just need to get back that all important western market which has much more money potential.

@The_Dude_Abides So, they'd be a storefront for other people's games, while making none of their own in the last....twelve years? Fifteen? When was HalfLife 2 and Left4Dead 2 again? Well, there's DOTA i guess.

Nice article. The notion that there could be a better understanding between the offices holds promise. For those who are worried it will make Nintendo more western, I think you're missing the point. Metroid, for instance. The expectation of Western gamers might be heard. My impression is that Reggie has a pretty good idea about this. He was always trying to stir some interest and hope for Metroid but how much can he really do? Some increased understanding from someone who has been on both sides can't hurt, in my opinion.

@Damo@EllenJMiller If I wasn't under NDA, I could reel off at least 5 great reasons off the top of my head that would have saved me, Nintendo, and I'm sure other 3rd party devs days or weeks of development time and admin time. And probably find another half dozen reasons if I sat down and thought about it.

I'm not suggesting they close offices, as especially for marketing and localisation, it makes sense to have people in different offices around the world.

Nintendo are making big strides in improving that stuff I can't talk about. Even in the short time I've been a licensed 3rd party developer with them, and from talking to devs who've worked with Nintendo in the more distant past, it's clear that they've moved on massively in recent years.

It's not exclusive to Nintendo either. I've seen folks on XDev teams literally sat at a bar at the bottom of a bottle after finally making it through TRC's months after the game was finished. I know people who've gone through multiple rounds of cert for Xbox and it's soul destroying. Particularly for indies who can't just pick up their pay packet at the end of a 9-5 shift and go relax for the weekend. Who are emotionally involved in these games in every way, not just one of a number of games their publisher is putting out that month.

An opportunity now exists with NX coming along to solve some of the problems that can only really be fixed by starting afresh and building from the ground up.

Many of those problems come from the NoA-NoE split. Maybe they don't have to "merge", but 3rd party devs would benefit massively from legally and technically having only one Nintendo to deal with.

(Also, as a bit of an aside, when I talk to other indie devs and say I'm working on Wii U, a number say to me they'd love to publish their games in Japan, the home country of all those cool Nintendo and Sony games they grew up playing. They already can release their games in Japan... on Google Play. They can... on iOS App Store. They can... on PC. It's nigh on impossible for either Sony or Nintendo systems. You can probably count on one hand the number of non-AAA devs who've done it. This is purely from an admin point of view. Not talking localisation. I and many others would love to see NoJ mixed into that as well.

I know a guy who was an executive for Oracle in Asia-Pacific..except for Japan, where they had an entirely separate business division, such is their way of doing business. So I know how unrealistic that hope is. But not having that NoA-NoE split would be a good first step to one day being able to publish globally to Nintendo systems)

I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do. Kimishima looks like he'll have a more Western approach. I just wonder who will do the Directs. He looks more serious than Iwata, but looks can be deceiving. So we'll just have to see. He looks like he could be a fun uncle if we could give him a chance.

@The_Dude_Abides Youre comparing apples to oranges here.Valve isnt really a game developer anymore. Nintendo on the other hand is both, a console manufacturer AND first party game developer.Something, that both Sony and Microsoft have lost over the years.

Youre comparing the provider of a digital marketplace for games to a console manufacturer also providing their own games.Thats a whole new level of "missing the point"

Kimishima does sound like a good safe bet for Nintendo. He has a ton of experience where Nintendo need it most and he has the right "wingmen" for cover where needed.
However I have to say... he look so serious he scares me a bit XD I can't see him acting fun like Iwata, if anything I hope he won't scold us youngsters if/when he'll show up in a direct ^_^;;;

@The_Dude_Abides And, that Nintendo makes games. Cabot Cheese creamery in Vermont might have a higher profit per dollar invested than Nintendo, but I wouldn't let them become the boss of Nintendo. Nor would I let Gabe, a man who runs a wonderful store, and totally made Half-Life 2 about 60 years ago, lead a development house. When's the last time you bought a Valve game, honestly? 2012? 2007? .....2001? Meanwhile, we have people lined up down the street for Yoshi Yarn/Smash Bros/New Amiibo whatever.

@JamesCoote Hopefully Mr Kimishima can help with this, surely with al the different areas of Nintendo that he has worked with, he has seen this problem and has plans to fix it.Maybe the way publishing is done should be reworked, with Nintendo's head company working with devs and then themselves working with each Nintendo subsidiary for local publishing duties.

@JamesCoote You cannot compare iOS and Google Play to Nintendo's systems - it's a totally and utterly different situation, market and audience. And the issues you mention stem largely from the complexities of releasing games in multiple regions - this applies to film and music to a certain degree as well.

The world is a big place and when you're as hands on as Nintendo is with its systems and games (Apple and Google have little to no involvement in the publication and promotion of the games on their app stores) then this is the only approach that can really work at the moment. Nintendo isn't Apple or Google.

@Damo Yet there certainly needs to be further change to help indie devs publish on console. Of course here still needs to be quality control, but every thing to reduce the pain regarding all hte different territories will help Nintendo.

You know something, I really hope he lets Retro loose to create brand new IPs for Nintendo. You know, a western developer creating games that cater more to western tastes with Nintendo's money and quality control backing them up.

In other words, another Rare. If Nintendo has missed anything over the last two generations, its Rare. During the Nintendo 64 era, Rare was the perfect counterpart to Nintendo's IPs since they would often do games like Perfect Dark or Killer Instincist that Nintendo would never do.

I hope Kimishima invests in Western development studios for Nintendo. Western Studios have paid off for Sony over the years by giving the Playstation franchises like God of War, Uncharted, Killzone, and Last of Us.

I'm not saying Nintendo should toss Mario to the wayside and make "FPS Shooter Franchise with Space Marine #500" but I think having some wester developers under Nintendo's thumb could only benefit them.

Nobody complained back on the Nintendo 64 that Nintendo was selling out by having western-developed games like Perfect Dark on shelves alongside Kirby and Mario 64.

I want to see Nintendo invest in western developers and let them come up with new IPs. For all we know, Nintendo could find another Rare.

@EllenJMiller I now about the NST situation, it's probably why we've not seen 1080 and Wave Race since the gamecube. Still, it seems like such a waste when there's long breaks between releases, NoE and NoA could be filling them in.Oh well, it's only a matter of time till we see how much things change.

@Raien How does Pikmin 4 ring any alarm bells? Anyone expecting that to be a game developed for NX is delusional. It's extremely obvious that it's a Wii U game meant to fill a release schedule gap and tide Wii U owners over. You said it yourself, Pikmin isn't as critical of a franchise. That's why it's the perfect candidate for the Wii U - not a critical franchise and they're able to reuse the engine and a lot of assets from Pikmin 3.

He seems qualified, but I feel like I won't truly trust him until I hear him talk. I hope I can hear him in an interview, or a presentation, and see what kind of person he is, or what his philosophies are. If he was at Nintendo of America, he should probably have some good English.

Well he seems to have the Midas touch. But with face like that (a bulldog) he seriously can't be a gamer. My guess is he gets off work heads home has either a scotch on the rocks or a Sake then hits the sack early to get ready for the next day. Probably a good choice. Hopefully Nintendo has learned its advertising mistakes. Seriously so many people didn't even know the Wii-U was even a new system. I've had friends come by to visit and ask me why my Wii looks different from theirs

@MadAdam81 That's one possible way of doing it. Or you could make a new subsidiary as @whodatninja suggested. The tricky part is how you structure it legally, and I think that is a big part of why it hasn't happened yet.

As for quality control, that's infinitely debatable. At the moment, at least for Wii U, quality control is like the food standards agency inspecting different food products to make sure they don't kill anyone or contain nasty substances. But they don't test for "does it taste good". They let the free market decide that, as does Nintendo for their games.

Interestingly, the less "ingredients" a game has, the easier it is to pass. No miiverse? No leaderboards? Such simple gameplay that it'd be harder to code a crash-causing bug than not? Passes lotcheck first time!

Should Nintendo say "sorry, the game passes all the tests, but it's just not very fun / is yet another flappy bird clone, so we're not going to allow it on the system"? It's what [email protected] are doing. Probably not so great for indie developers like me, but better for consumers and the long term health of the system for sure!

Instead, what it often feels like is that with Wii U and PS4 have overly complicated bureaucratic systems to act as a filter and put the massed ranks of developers off. Well I can't get a fixed/static IP address because I'm an indie in my stupidly expensive London shoebox-cum-bedroom with a landlord who certainly isn't willing to go through the inconvenience of changing ISP and (hahaha) paying more to do so! So that's PS4 dev out the window. Whereas if I impress Strategic Content with my shiny near-finished game they'll help expedite some of that tedious paperwork and I'll sing their praises about how "indie friendly" they are.

@Damo Whatever you make of the above philosophical debate about quality control (which actually you already answered as I was typing this and I probably agree with you ), because of the volume and hands-off nature of mobile app stores, Google and Apple have had to optimise their back end systems. Moreover, those systems were designed recently, and bespoke for the app stores they serve.

Ultimately, that means they are just more efficient than Nintendo's. I can think of one very specific example where on a couple of occasions, I've lost a half day of time in lotcheck queue because I made a typo in entering in information that I have to enter every time I make a submission with Nintendo, but which Google Play, after the first time I enter said info, saves for me for future use.

The problem is a lot of developers, like me, have now experienced that more efficient mobile way of publishing. So when faced for the first time with some of the Nintendo systems' foibles, like the one above, it typically elicits a response along the lines of "what the actual hell. That's massively inconvenient, makes no sense". Then I go away and think about it and actually, yes it makes sense for Wii retail disk compatibility or something like that.

The NoA-NoE split is one of those "something like that" situations. Ok, in the past for whatever reason, it made sense to have a legal separation between NoA and NoE, and now I can see that means that this thing I'm doing has to be done that way.

If Nintendo want to make a more modern, fit for purpose system that's friendly for small 3rd party devs, they need to start clearing some of these legacy issues clogging things up. NoA-NoE split is one of them, so if they can find a way that makes sense from a legal perspective (as often the issues are obviously a legal or compliance thing) then makes sense to do so.

Unfortunately, as implied, other things like backward compatibility would ideally have to similarly be dropped. Obviously not very popular for die-hard Nintendo fans. That's the kind of difficult tradeoff platform holders have to make, but which consumers who haven't had experience of the above won't understand.

Or maybe Nintendo don't want a system friendly to small 3rd party devs and actually are happier to deal with a few people from Curve Digital or Team17, who help do some of the quality filtering anyway. My plan b if my games turn out to be crap is to go off and work for a company like that. (Though I've already said waaay more than I should, so will shut up now so as to not hurt my future career prospects anymore )

"Clearly Kimishima's role isn't quite the same as Iwata's. With Miyamoto and Takeda acting as his "wingmen" we could see a more team-focused stance this time around, […]". Actually, when Iwata was appointed to the position more than a decade ago, the tenor was pretty much the same. I'd argue that Iwata strengthened his position gradually over the years that came. And then again, there was Yamauchi before him, so any change would have meant change...

@Kirk How is that a bad thing? Nobody is saying Nintendo should ditch Mario or suddenly make a FPS the flagship game of their consoles. But I think one of Nintendo's biggest issues is that they are losing the western fanbase in large numbers to Sony and Microsoft.

The West is a much larger game market then Japan, Nintendo needs the western markets to buy their consoles in larger numbers, or they will have no hope of competing with Sony or Microsoft.

Nintendo still does very well in Japan, so no need to panic and think they are going to shift their entire development focus to making Call of Duty or Halo clones.

But I think Nintendo would benefit from establishing or buying out western development studios and giving them money and support with one focus, making Western-style games that are intended to help sell Nintendo consoles in the west.

This is nothing new, Rare played a large role in the Nintendo 64's success due to making games Nintendo themselves would never touch, such as FPS games(Goldeneye, Perfect Dark), Mortal Kombat style fighting games(Killer Instinct), and mature rated games(Conker's Bad Day)

My point is this, I think Nintendo has been missing a key element ever since they lost Rare. Retro is good, but they have not made anything that is not an established Nintendo IP.

I would love to see Nintendo give Retro and NST free reign to make new IPs.

Good article. I have to say I agree with the mentality. It does seem like he's a "stop-gap" with the primary goal to stop the bleeding at Nintendo. Once the company levels out, I'm sure he'll be close to a point of retirement (if he retires, I guess). We'll see though. Of course, I hope for the best for him. I just hope he isn't one of those guys who will slash and burn, coming from a financial background. I always thought Iwata had the right mentality saying cutting jobs would lead to less morale and hurt the company overall.

@Raien How asinine. Who would Nintendo become third party for? Sony? Microsoft? What makes the PlayStation or Xbox brands a safer haven than Nintendo's own? Because, last I checked, third-parties are going bankrupt left, right and centre. SEGA is a shell of its former self. Hudson is gone. Konami looks like it's ready to give up games all together. Capcom didn't even have enough money to publish another Street Fighter.

Hardware sales are still a big money-maker for Nintendo, despite the Wii U's failings (let's just conveniently forget the 3DS, eh?), and its games still sell far more (over a wider range) than the competition. Mario Kart 8 has sold over five million copies,yet the PS4's highest selling title (Killzone) has only shifted over two million. Shuhei Yoshida himself said that only 30 to 40% of Sony's games make money... I guess they should quit then, and focus on exclusively making hardware?

The Xbox brand too, is a big money sink for Microsoft. It has lost billions since its introduction, and Microsoft are trying to salvage it by unifying everything with Windows 10.

Never mind how terrible Nintendo leaving the console business would be from a gamer's perspective. Less competition means less variety and choice... And again, Yoshida himself has said that Nintendo needs to thrive.

Oh, and people were crying for Pikmin 3 for nine years... And now that Miyamoto wants to make another, that's somehow a horrible thing? That its existence is somehow emblematic of a flawed mantra within the company? Didn't Nintendo just create a hit new IP with Splatoon? That's what they need to do, right? Create that next big breakout hit like Wii Sports or Wii Fit? Well, that kind of success simply isn't guaranteed - people latch on to the darndest things, seemingly without rhyme or reason. How did Minecraft get so big? Why are vampires all the rage? How? Why? Where? When?

Creating videogames that will sell will always be a crapshoot, because it's an inherently creative business that must co-exist with financial sense. 'Gamecube' games, as you so (confusingly) put it, sell because of brand loyalty. Maybe they won't sell gangbusters (like Pikmin, Metroid or F-Zero), but Nintendo makes them because they are an investment toward the continued support if the 'hardcore' fans that in turn help to keep them afloat during times of distress. The Wii U didn't sell badly because of this; it was because of this, it sold at all. Also, by delivering quality games (that aren't necessarily blockbusters) and building a rapport, Nintendo have managed to avoid the nasty post-fad syndrome - like we're now seeing with Angry Birds, Call of Duty and even Apple (judging by the increasingly lukewarm responses to its new products). It's a long-term strategy, and one that has kept Nintendo alive for so long; the company goes through ebbs and flows, and while its games often lack the immediate pizzazz and 'coolness' of its moneybags competition, they often get the last laugh by being a lot more timeless and ingraining themselves into the psyche of gamers long after the other cash cows have been milked dry. It's an alternative business model that doesn't see immediate results (relatively speaking), but is equally as effective.

Yes, you can blame Nintendo on many of its concerns, but like any company gong through uncertain times, there are external factors that have simply been beyond their control. Were the locomotive businesses poorly run, because they were superseded by automobiles? Should newspapers have been scolded, for not automatically predicting the internet's influence? Similarly, you can't pin the entirety of the company's woes on the company. Aside from a multitude of financial and economical reasons, there's also the fact that Nintendo is a dedicated videogame company - perhaps the last of its kind in the world. A double-edged sword, it's this business model that has ensured its success for so long - and also the reason why it has struggled to 'adapt' for so long, because of how ingrained and specialised the company is (compared to the multi-talented Sony, Microsoft, Google and Apple). It isn't as simple as 'getting on with the times'; a firm the size of Nintendo has many parts that run the machine, and simply doing what many people want them to would require a massive - and potentially deadly - overhaul of everything the company stands for and represents. Not that they aren't making changes (DeNA, QOL, NX, etc), but to simply chuck 30+ years of hardware R&D away because of some low sales (or brats who just don't want to buy Nintendo consoles to play the games they want to play) and armchair analysts pushing them to emulate the latest fad for a quick buck, is downright ludicrous.

I don't know enough about Tatsumi Kimishima's beliefs on game design, marketing, and the direction Nintendo should go, to really judge him compared to Iwata, to which I did not agree with at all. Nintendo isn't exactly anti western, unless you count the fact that they more often than not make kid focused games, so I don't really understand what is meant by saying Tatsumi Kimishima will make Nintendo more western focused. The stereotype on that would be adult FPS games, but really, I just hope Nintendo's focus returns to core gamers, and not trying everything else except marketing to core gamers and as well as stop treating all of their audience like little kids with censorship and intentional prevention of communication.

Let's wait and see. I just hope his long experience as a banker doesn't have a negative influence on his presidency. Sure, Nintendo needs to make profits (which they're doing right now already), but the creative side and what makes Nintendo so special shouldn't be lost on the way to more profit. Or in other words: Nintendo shouldn't become Sony/MS.

@BestBuck15 As Directors there could be a Miyamoto asks at some point. I'm going to take the viewpoint that this will be a good thing for Nintendo. Miyamoto is primarily a creative developer and director, and Takeda a systems engineer who dabbles in game development. Business administration isn't their strong suit and it would take away from what they already are doing. The head of an HR division is a typical first consideration at many companies when replacing their CEO. Mr Kimishima-san has a lot of experience in the administration side of the company and consulting with Miyamoto and Takeda he should be in good hands. His age, 65 would be my only concern as that is typically retirement age. But I'm sure he will be a good transition president who will offer stability to the company at this time.

Lol you guys, just look at that pic you think it's a fun job sitting there answering questions from investors at their annual stockholder meetings? Probably they chose this guy b/c he already been thru such events!

I'm really liking this guy already, mostly due to his credentials. Although he does look a bit moody, I'm sure everything will be alright and Nintendo will fall back into place since Iwata's death, and carry on in success!

@Raien You make a few good points, but a lot of your points where also disproven with the Wii. Nintendo is by far the most successful video game company on the market. Sony and Microsoft currently have more system sales with their new consoles, but I believe the problem is not simply because of Gamecube original titles like Pikmin. The Gamecube was technically better than it's competitors the Xbox and PS2 in many ways, but lacked in a few. Because PS2 outsold them both we could assume any number of reasons like DVD playback (a feature it had over the Gamecube) as being the reason, but it's still more than that. The Wii released after it's competition with less power and performance, but featured motion controls. These were new and unheard of in gaming, and suddenly everyone and their grandma could play games together with no experience needed. The casual market had been reached and the price was right. Because of this third and second party studios were all on board... for a while. Then the Wii U released with stronger performance than the other consoles, but competition was around the corner. Third parties gave it small (port) offerings to start but vanished soon after with only Nintendo to support their console. Nintendo now is working well with and relies largely on independent developers for it's non-first party titles.

Personally I think that the Wii Sports games on Wii U should be a free digital download for all owners, giving those who bought them a credit in the eShop. With every Wii U owner having the game the online play would be much better (actually finding people to play against) and a selling point for the system. Perhaps selling a console without the GamePad but with a Wii Remote and nunchuck or a Wii Pro Controller even at $250. But that goes into a whole other argument on the necessity of the GamePad that I won't go into now.

Another big issue Nintendo has had is it's split development for a handheld and home console. The DS thrived, but the 3DS initially struggled. Rumors I have read on other sites from developers speaking outside of their NDA, have said the NX will be a two part system that will work together or independently. One claimed the new console would have crossbuy options but stated that the development would be more open similar to PS4 and Xbox One as well as games would be uniform between the two systems in this new NX "platform". If these rumors are to be believed Nintendo could hopefully get more third party support while at the same time creating many if not all of it's titles to be played on both the NX handheld and console.

I think it's great that Nintendo can and does afford to take risks with games like Pikmin while subsidizing them with games like MK and Smash. Any American company like Microsoft would go straight for Halo, but Nintendo takes risks that don't always pay off, which many of us gamers appreciate.

Kimishima will largely be seeing through the vision that Iwata had with the NX. We'll largely have to wait and see if any of these NX rumors are true, but if Nintendo can keep making games available to both of it's NX devices while providing games for the casual market and a platform where third parties feel welcome they will be very successful.

At first I was concerned because of his financial, non-game-development-related background. But he at least seems to acknowledge his own limitations and areas of expertise, which is why he's doing the team thing; he handles what he does best, the other two handle what they do best.

So Kimishima is a stop-gap President and CEO. Apparently Nintendo had at first been looking for someone younger, but due to lack of personnel and the approaching holiday season, they made a somewhat rushed, possibly panicked decision on Kimishima.

Thankfully, it looks like they chose the right guy for the time being. Or maybe I'm wrong and he's going to clean house and it be a bad move.

I'm not sure how much I immediately trust someone with such inexorable ties to monetary affairs. Bur he might also provide a more grounded viewpoint that the N really needs.

The world is yours, Nintendo, if you choose to take it. You have the best first-party games out there and have done so for 30 years, but more importantly, you safeguard the heart and soul of gaming. There may be an answer, yet.

The mere fact that he was CEO of NoA before Reggie gives me hope. I just hope that means that the West won't be left in the dust again. Us in the Americas are kinda left waiting whilst even Europe seemingly gets better treatment by Nintendo.

Now that I've read this article, the decision makes more sense. They probably would want a stopgap president to make sure their transition with the NX goes smoothly. Hopefully he can make some improvements of his own though, the West could certainly use better treatment and he seems like he could be someone who could make that happen.

I agree. I don't understand why some think a higher age is disadvantageous. That's ageism. If anything, the opposite is true. The greater the age, the more experience, the more wisdom. Only time will tell in which direction Mr. Kimishima will take Nintendo, but I am certain his approach will be conservative (i.e., safe) and mindful of Mr. Iwata's approaches that made him so popular and successful.

Apparently, Kimishima-san is just a “stop-gap” CEO who was not Iwata’s first pick but ended up taking the role due to the lack of anybody else with sufficient business acumen. Kimishima-san is 65, so that makes sense. He will be replaced in 6-8 years, hopefully via resignation rather than death (RIP Iwata). 

Additionally, Kimishima-san apparently predicted the Wii U’s failure before it launched, due to its similarity to the Wii (I guess by that he means similarity in name, focus, strategy, target audience etc.). This is good, as Nintendo needs a leader with a bit of foresight.

Much speculation has been flying across the internet regarding what Kimishima-san will do as Nintendo’s CEO. Considering that much of Iwata's plans involved the future rather than the present (foray into mobile gaming, introduction of NX, continued expansion of Amiibo, creation of Club Nintendo successor with DeNA, eventual retirement of Wii U and 3DS), it would be best to stay on course until it is clear that Iwata's current strategy is a success, failure, or somewhere in between, upon which Kimishima will have to make his own decisions to continue or abandon their current path.

Can’t wait for Kimishima Asks, or as I would like to call them, Kimi Asks.

@IronMan28 The one year term doesn't really mean anything. Iwata was also only ever elected to one year terms. At the end of the term in June, they get evaluated and the board members can either be re-elected or replaced. So if Kimishima gets re-elected and he accepts the role, he'll get another one year term. So he could potentially be president and CEO until he either doesn't get re-elected/gets replaced, resigns, retires, or, God forbid, dies.

I think it's great that Nintendo is open to hiring someone outside the company to run it. The industry and market is changing so much, that they need someone who will embrace the app and internet gaming as well as push for hardware that the West can get behind.

@JamesCoote I'm no expert in company structure, but I do find a merger illogical. NoA and NoE are mostly separate because Europe and America have different set of laws and...well...there's an ocean between them. There would honestly be little difference in a merger.

At the moment this seems like a sensible move. He may not be a game developer, but Hiroshi Yamauchi the golden Nintendo president, never even played video games! I think we will be in good hands, does this mean that we'll see a new Nintendo president in 10 years or so??? Unfortunately yes, but this as temporary aid, this is excellent. The NX and Mobile coming into play and a major focus...Tatsumi Kimishima seems like the best bet for ushering Nintendo into the future. I look forward to see what his leadership brings to the table.

@HandheldGuru97 Kimishima has signed on for 1 year so things may change faster than you predict. Sometimes (depending on the person really) its best to not have a creative lead a company even if their methods and ideas springboards a platform. They may not adopt to new changes fast enough or if they do implement them in unappealing ways.

A person much more removed can simply see a trend, point out the missing elements of said trend and instruct his team to create things that fill those gaps not yet tackled by the competition that's interesting to players. Make money.

@manu0The reason why there are two different English translations is because places like the UK and Australia write English properly, whereas America mangles (can I say bastardises?) the language. They leave the U out of armour, spell criticise with a Z and yet spell criticism with an S, and end the word metre with ER.

@DamoThe way I see it, NoE is just a broad way of referencing Nintendo UK, Germany, France etc. without having to list each individual one, even then, when someone says NoE it doesn't always include Australia. Australia has actually had a decent run with releases, stock, promotions and rewards over the past couple of years, if "NoE" and "NoA" were to merge we would never see such attention again except for experimenting with the market (such as the getting the N3DS before everyone except Japan).

@shaneoh Yeah I know that...if it was only that it would be enough to just replace the words in question. But the translations are two completely different ones. E.g. the Smash Bros Wii U trophy descriptions are completely different.

I presume he has no business experience but Tsubasa Sakaguchi (co-director of Splatoon) for President of Nintendo! He's just a total badass! He should at least do the future Nintendo Directs Such a cool guy!

Having someone that has more experience, and basically helped nintendo get back into peoples eyes with the Wii success (I remember a lot of advertisements for the system, which helped, and remembered it almost being 2 years before you could see them stay on a store shelf for more than a day), I think he's a good choice for right now. His age shouldn't matter, even though he's pushing the retirement age (actually, at that age now). He has two good wing men and he should do good until they choose their next president.

However, I do think they need a younger president eventually, one that knows the gaming world and what fans and fans of other consoles, like. The gimmicks need to stop and they need to make a system that appeals to the developers more, so they can make the games faster and easier (not necessarily faster and not necessarily the junk games that kept on coming on the Wii). For now, this guy seems to be the right choice to help nintendo come back after the bad sales of the Wii U.

While he may know how the west "works", that doesn't necessarily translate to a good thing as a whole as he will be HQ'd in Japan, having to also make homeland decisions first and foremost. Time will tell, I'm neither excited nor disappointed, just patient.